Huge Victory From President Trump

October 12, 2017 at 4:31 pm

Dear Marriage Supporter — I've got some great news: President Donald Trump's administration delivered a huge victory for NOM and our fight to protect religious liberty last week when Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a government-wide memo directing that to the maximum extent possible, the government refrain from interfering with the right of people of faith to live out their beliefs. Said Sessions, "Except in the narrowest of circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law."

The memo from Attorney General Sessions comes as a result of a May directive from President Trump to develop government-wide guidelines to protect religious liberty. NOM launched a major petition drive and produced a video that resulted in an outpouring of comments to Attorney General Sessions urging that he adopt a comprehensive approach to protecting religious liberty. Our efforts were successful! Attorney General Sessions adopted a position that Politico called, "a muscular view of religious freedom rights."

While the directive to federal agencies and departments does not specifically mention cases involving those who have been punished for refusing to abandon support for traditional marriage or participate in gay 'marriage' ceremonies, it declares:

Religious liberty includes the right to act and to refrain from action in accordance with religious beliefs.

The freedom of religion extends to persons and organizations. This should provide significant protections for Christian schools, adoption agencies and other service providers that have been punished because of their views about marriage, parenthood and human sexuality.

Americans do not give up their religious liberty rights when they enter the marketplace. This should provide protections to all the small business owners threatened by federal government officials over their beliefs about marriage.

Religious employers are permitted to hire only people whose beliefs and conduct are consistent with the employers' religious precepts. This should provide significant protections for faith-based schools and similar groups who are being pressured to hire staff entangled in same-sex 'marriages' that violate the organization's beliefs and teachings.

The Department of Justice directive was immediately condemned by LGBT extremist groups as supposedly providing a "license to discriminate" but such a notion was quickly and effectively rebuffed by the White House.

Again, this is a huge victory for NOM, and for our fight to protect religious liberty. It would not have been possible had so many people not been rallied at the grassroots level by things like our petition drive and advocacy video.

While we proudly cheer this action by the Trump Administration providing guidance, more needs to be done to provide robust protections for people of faith. We are continuing to urge President Trump to issue an Executive Order to give the guidance and directives greater force of law. Furthermore, it's essential that Congress take the step of enacting the First Amendment Defense Act to codify in statute the legal protections that are needed to ensure that, as Attorney General Sessions has declared, no American is forced to choose between living out their faith and complying with the law.

This victory with the Trump Administration is but the latest example of how effective we have been in fighting for marriage and our entire agenda. It shows that the investment in NOM by thousands of grassroots supporters is paying off!

So that we can continue to be effective advocates for restoring marriage and protecting the rights of people of faith, I'm asking you take the important step of supporting
NOM's Sustaining Member program.

As a Sustaining Member, we ask you to pledge a modest recurring monthly donation to support our work. We make it easy for you to give, and your support will form a key element of the backbone of our work.

As an added incentive to becoming a Sustaining Member now, I want to let you know that your monthly pledge will be matched every month for the next year! That's because of a generous $250,000 matching gift opportunity made available to us by a top supporter through the end of the year.

What this means is that your pledge of $10 per month will result in NOM receiving $120 thanks to this generous year-end matching program. If you can pledge $20, we will receive $240 in matching funds. Whatever monthly pledge you make will be matched for the next year – an amazing opportunity for us!

With your support we can look forward to many more victories like this latest win! Thank you for your help.

Faithfully,

PS — After becoming a Sustaining Member of NOM, please forward this email to your friends and let them know how effective we've been. As an example, here is the video we produced back in May that helped rally so many people to support this cause.

Contributions or gifts to the National Organization for Marriage, a 501(c)(4) organization, are not tax-deductible. The National Organization for Marriage does not accept contributions from business corporations, labor unions, foreign nationals, or federal contractors; however, it may accept contributions from federally registered political action committees. Donations may be used for political purposes such as supporting or opposing candidates. No funds will be earmarked or reserved for any political purpose.